Sixteen cats have been saved from an unhygienic home and their owner banned from keeping animals.

Donna Albert, 39, of Quendon Place in Haverhill, appeared at Cambridge Magistrates' Court yesterday (January 12) after previously pleading guilty to two breaches of Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2016.

She pleaded guilty to not providing a hygienic environment for her cats to live in or providing them with a suitable diet.

The RSPCA was called to her home in June after neighbours raised concerns for the animals' welfare.

Some of the cats inside Quendon Place

When they arrived they say they found a four-week-old kitten dead in the hallway.

RSPCA Inspector Alex Coghlan put this down to her mother being shut outside and being unable to feed her.

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Inspector Coghlan said: "There were piles of food on the floor along with faeces, and one poor four-week-old kitten lay dead in the hallway - we think because her mother had got shut outside and she was unable to be fed.

"I think this was a case where the owner started with a couple of cats and then they bred and things got out of control. They had also all been left for five days without any kind of care."

Inspector Coghlan added there was a happy ending as the cats have since been turned over to the RSPCA and the majority have been rehomed.

Albert was banned from keeping animals for five years, given a community order for 80 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months, ordered to pay costs of £200 and an £85 victim surcharge.